IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


V 


// 


:/- 


u. 


1.0 


1^  lil 

2.2 


I.I 


::  1^  112.0 


1.8 


1.25 


U    ill  1.6 


VQ 


<^ 


/a 


7: 


y 


K 


ronir' 


Sciences 
Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  HS80 

(716)  872-4503 


^:^ 


r^ 


%^ 


\\ 


<* 


6^ 


^ 


«?• 


CIHM/ICMH 
Microfiche 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


^^^ 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


Couverture  endommagie 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  pellicul6e 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


D 


D 


D 


D 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


I      I    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relii  avec  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmies. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplimentaires: 


L'institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique.  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mithode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 


□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculdes 

r~>  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
L^    Pages  d6color6es,  tacheties  ou  piqu6es 

□    Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ddtachdes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualit6  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materif 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplimentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


I      I  Showthrough/ 

I      I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

|~~j  Only  edition  available/ 


D 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6X6  filmies  6  nouveau  de  faqon  6 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmd  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous 

10X                              14X                              18X                              22X 

i 

' 

26X 

30X 

7 

12X                              16X                              20X                              24X                              28X                              32X 

ails 

du 

difier 

une 

'iage 


Th«  copy  fllmad  here  hat  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  cf  British  Columbia 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  ihe  symbol  — ^-  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


L'exemplaire  film*  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
gAnArositA  de: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Arch  ;es  of  British  Columbia 

Les  Images  suivantes  ont  AtA  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  le  condition  et 
de  la  nettet*  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  ImprlmAe  sont  filmis  en  commenqant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmAs  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboiss  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derni«^re  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  —^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN  ". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
fiimis  A  des  taux  de  rMuction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  6tre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  ii  est  filmd  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup^rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m^thode. 


rata 


elure, 


3 


32X 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

6 

6 

*. 


TH 


LAST   LETTER 


OF 


MR.    B  U  C  H  A  IV  A  JV 


t 


to 


MR.  PAKENHAM, 


OR 


THE    AMERICAir   TITF  E   TO    OREUOIV. 


BALTIMORE. 

PRINTED  AT  THJt  CONSTITUTION  •FPICE. 

184D. 


For  sale  at  one  dollar  per  hundred  copies. 


^»1 


m 


'■'*  I 


MR.   nVCHAXAl^^S   LETTER. 


Depakimknt  ov  St\tk, 

Wnshivsilon,  August  30,  1845. 

The  undtTsigned,  Secretary  of  State  <if  the  IJiiiied  States,  (Iccms  it  his  duty  to 
make  some  (observations  in  reply  to  the  stiilcnicnt  of  her  Dritaniiic  .\hiji'siy's  en- 
voy extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary,  marked  U.  P.  and  dated  !2lJth  of 
July,  184o. 

Prc'liiiiinary  to  the  discussion,  it  is  necessary  to  fix  our  attention  upon  the  pre- 
cise question  under  consideration,  in  liie  present  ston;e  of  the  nef^oiiation.  Tliis 
question  simply  is,  were  the  titles  of  Spain  and  the  United  Stales,  wiie.i  united  hy 
the  Florida  treaty  on  the  22(1  of  Februarv,  1819,  jrood  as  ai,'ainsi  (ireat  Britain  to 
tlu)  Oregon  territory  as  far  north  as  the  I'lissian  line,  in  the  latitude  of  51  ilegrees 
40  minutes?  If  they  were,  it  will  ho  admitted  that  this  whole  territory  now  be- 
longs to  the  United  States. 

The  undersigned  again  remarks  that  it  is  not  his  purpose  to  repeat  the  ai;;ument 
by  which  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Calhoun,  has  demonstrated  the  American  title  "to 
the  entire  region  drained  by  the  Columbia  river  and  its  branches."  He  will  not 
thus  impair  its  force. 

It,  is  contended  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  United  States  acquired  and 
hold  the  Spanish  title  subject  to  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  Noolka  Sound 
Convention,  concluded  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  at  the  Escuria,  on  the 
28th  October,  1790, 

In  opposition  to  the  argument  of  the  undersigned,  contained  in  his  state.nent 
inarkeci  J  B.  maintaining  that  this  convention  had  been  annulled  by  the  war  be- 
tween Spain  and  Great  Britain,  in  1796,  and  has  never  since  been  rsvived  by  the 
parties,  the  British  plenipotentiary,  in  his  statement  marked  R.  P.  has  taken  the 
following  positions: 

1.  "That  when  Spain  concluded  with  the  United  States  the  treaty  of  1S19,  commonly 
called  tlie  Florida  treaty,  the  convention  concluded  between  the  former  power  and  Great 
Britain,  in  1790,  was  considered  by  the  parties  to  it  to  be  still  in  forcp. 

And  2.  "But  that,  even  if  no  such  treaty  hadcvei  exiaeJ,  Great  Britain  would  stand, 
with  reference  to  a  claim  to  the  Oregon  territory,  iu  a  position  at  least  as  favorable  as  the 
United  Slates." 

The  undersigned  will  follow,  step  by  step,  the  argument  of  the  Biitish  pleni 
potentiary  in  support  of  these  propositions. 

The  British  plenipotentiary  states  "that  the  treaty  of  1790  is  not  appealed  toby 
the  British  government,  as  the  American  plenipotentiary  seems  to  suppose,  as  their 
•main  reliance'  in  the  present  di.scussion;"  but  to  show  that,  by  the  Florida  treaty 
of  1819,  ihe  United  Slates  acquired  no  right  to  exclusive  dominion  over  any  part 
of  the  Oregon  territory. 

The  undersigned  had  believed  that  ever  since  1826,  the  Noolka  Convention 
has  been  regarded  by  the  British  government  as  their  main,  if  not  their  only,  reli- 
ance. The  very  nature  and  peculiarity  of  their  claim  identified  it  with  the  con- 
struction which  they  have  imposed  upon  this  convention,  and  necessarily  excludes 
every  other  basis  of  title.  What  but  to  accord  with  this  construction  could  have 
ccused  Messrs.  Iluskisson  and  Adilington,  the  British  commissioners,  in  specify- 
ing their  title,  on  the  I6lh  December,  1826,  to  declare  "that  Great  Brii.  in  claims 
no  exclusive  ijoverciguty  over  any  porlion  of  that  territory,     ller  present  claim 


i  >, 


(Hi 


ai^ 


not  in  respect  to  any  part,  but  to  the  whole,  is  limited  to  a  right  of  joint  occu- 
pancy in  common  with  other  states,  leaving  the  right  of  exclusive  dominion  in 
abeyance."  And  again:  "By  that  convention  (of  Nootka)  it  was  agreed  that  all 
pans  of  the  norlhwcsiern  const  of  America,  not  already  occupied  at  thai  lime  by 
either  of  liie  conlracling  parlies,  should  thenceforward  be  equally  open  to  the  sub- 
jects of  both  for  all  purpdses  of  coinmerce  and  selllemcul — iIk-  snvereignty  re- 
maining in  abeyance."  I5ut  <>n  this  subject  we  are  not  lefi  to  mere  inleicnces, 
however  clear.  The  BriliNJi  commissioners,  in  their  statement,  tioni  which  the 
undersigned  lia<  jusl  quoted,  have  virluniiy  c mndoned  any  other  titL;  which  Great 
Britain  may  have  previously  a-ssened  to  the  territory  in  duspute,  niul  expressly  de- 
elate  "thai  whatever  llmt  title  may  have  been,  however,  either  on  ilie  part  ofGreat 
Britain  or  on  the  part  of  Spain,  prior  to  the  conve  ition  of  1790,  it  w:is  ihmcrfur- 
ward  no  hmgcr  to  be  traced  in  vitifue  iiarraline^  of  discni'cries^  several  of  /Item  ad- 
mitted to  he,  apocryphal,  bu>  in  the  text  anil  slipulatiowi  of  that  convention  itself,''^ 
And  again,  in  summing  up  llieir  wljoie  case,  they  say: 

"Admitiiiig  that  the  United  Slates  have  acquired  all  the  rights  wliicli  Spain  possessed 
up  to  liie  treaty  of  Florida,  ciilier  in  virtue  ot'disrovery,  or,  as  is  prrteiided.  in  right  of 
Loui--ianii.  Ureal  Brii.iin  niaiuiain.s  liiul  ilic  iiiUure  ancl  extent  of  iIii'm-  riulits,  as  well 
as  the  rights  of  Great  Britain,  iire  iixed  and  diiinod  bv  iLi^  Conveniion  ol  Nootka,"' 
&c.  &.C. 

The  undersigned,  after  a  careful  examination,  cm  discover  nothing  in  the  note 
of  the  present  IJrilisli  plenipolcntiary  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  of  ttie  12ih  Sipiemhor  last, 
to  impair  the  force  of  thesi;  declarations  and  admissions  ofhin  predecessors.  On 
the  contrary,  its  gen^  ral  ton^  is  in  perfect  accnrdance  wiih  ihi-m. 

WhateVLT  may  be  ilie  consequences,  ihtn,  whelh  r  lor  good  or  for  ever — wlie- 
ther  to  slren<;lhen  or  to  desiroy  the  Mriiisli  cliiim — it  is  non-  too  lat<'  far  the  Bri- 
tisli  Government  to  vnry  Uieir  position.  If  the  Nooika  Convealion  confers  upon 
them  no  such  riphts  as  ti.ey  claim,  they  raniioi  at  this  laie  luur  go  behind  ils  pro- 
visions, and  set  up  claims  which,  in  182B,  they  admitted  had  befiii  merged  "in  the 
text  and  stipulations  of  that  conveiition  i'sdf." 

Th<!  iiiidersignrd  regrets  thai  ihe  British  plenipotentiary  has  not  noticed  his 
exposition  of  the  true  construction  ofllie  Nooika  Convention.  lie  had  endeavored, 
and  he  believes  successfully,  to  prove  thai  lliis  treaty  was  iransienl  in  ils  very  na- 
ture; that  it  conferred  upo;-  Great  Britain  no  rijjlit  but  thi>t  of  merely  trading  with 
the  Indians  whilst  the  country  should  reiiiaiii  unsettled,  and  making  the  neces- 
eary  esliddishtnents  lor  this  inirpose;  and  thai  it  did  not  inlerCere  with  the  ulti- 
mate sovereignty  ofSjiain  over  the  territory.  The  British  plenipiUentiary  lias  not 
attempted  to  resist  iliese  conclusions.  If  ihcy  he  fair  and  leuilimate,  then  it  would 
not  avail  Great  Britain,  even  il  she  should  piove  the  Nooika  Convention  to  be  siill 
in  force.  Cn  the  contrary,  this  convention,  if  the  construction  placed  upon  ilby  the 
undersigned  he  correct,  contains  a  clear  virtual  admission  on  the  pari  ofGreat  liri- 
tain  thai  Spain  hi-ld  the  eventual  right  of  sovereignty  ovei  the  whole  disputed  ter- 
ritory; and  consequently  that  it  now  hcdonffs  to  the  United  States. 

The  value  of  this  admission,  made  in  1790,  is  the  same  whether  or  not  the  con- 
vention has  ccmtintied  to  exi.'^t  until  the  present  day.  But  he  is  willing  to  leave 
this  point  on  the  unconlroverted  argiiiueiu  contained  in  his  f  rmer  sialemenl. 

But  is  the  Nootka  Sound  convention  still  in  force  .^  The  British  plenipoten- 
tiary docs  not  contest  the  clear  general  principle  ol  public  law,  "  that  war  termi- 
nates all  subsisting  treaties  between  the  belliL;erenl  powers."  He  contends, 
however,  in  the  first  place,  tlial  this  convention  is  partly  coiiirnerciil  ;  and  that, 
80  far  as  it  partakes  uf  this  character,  it  was  revived  by  the  treaty  concluded  at 
Madrid  on  the  2Sih  August,  1814,  which  declares  "that  all  the  ircalies  of  com- 
merce which  .'»'ibsisle<l  between  the  two  parties  (Grpat  Briiain  and  Spain)  in 
179u,  were  thereby  ratified  and  confirnied  ;"  and,  2J,  "  that  in  other  respects  it 
must  be  considtred  as  an  acknowledgment  of  subsisting  righl8-=-an  admission  of 
certain  principles  ef  inlernstional  law,"  not  to  be  revoked  by  war. 


\ 


nt  occu- 
ninion  in 
that  all 
I  lime  by 
1  tliesub- 
ignty  ro- 
I'niciices, 
vliich  the 
I i eh  Great 
rossly  de- 
l  of  Great 
'hincrfor- 
'  tlicm  ad- 
ilsr.lp' 

I   poS''CSSCil 

ill  right  of 
its.  as  well 
t  NootUii,"' 

111  the  note 
;inher  hist, 
ssors.     Oft 

>ver — w'he- 
jr  the  I5ri- 
nftrs  upon 
ind  ils  pro- 
ved "in  the 

noticed  his 

iidi'iivored, 

1.'!  very  na- 

rading  with 

the  neces- 

lli  tiie  ulti- 

,iry  has  not 

•n  it  would 

:)!!  tf)  l)e  siill 

)on  it  by  the 

f  Groat  F.ri- 

iisputed  ter- 

not  the  con- 
mg;  to  leave 
ineiit. 

pleiiipoten- 
t  war  termi- 
le  contends, 
1  ;  and  tliat, 
concluded  at 
tiis  of  com- 
d  Spain)  in. 
r  re.'^peets  it 
admission  of 


In  regard  to  the  first  proposition,  the  undersigned  is  natisfied  to  leave  the  ques- 
tion to  rest  upon  his  former  ar«rumcnt,  an  the  Hritisii  plenipotentiary  has  con- 
tented himself  wiili  merely  nsserlinj;'  the  fact,  that  the  roniriiercial  portion  of  the 
Noolka  Sound  Convention  was  revived  by  the  irnaly  of  1814,  wiihouL  even  spe- 
cifyin;;  what  he  ctinsiders  to  be  that  portion  of  thai  convention.  Jf  the  under- 
«igiii'(l  hail  (h'sired  to  slrcngtiien  hin  former  position,  he  might  have  repeated  with 
great  ellei't  the  arginiirnt  eonlained  in  th^•  note  of  Lord  Aberdcin  to  I  lie  Dniie  of 
Soioniiiyor.  dated  ;jl)t!i  June,  184-5,  in  wliich  his  h>r!lship  rlearly  established  that 
all  tile  treiilics  of  commerce  subsisting  between  Gnat  Britain  and  Spain  previous 
to  1706,  were  confined  to  the  trade  with  Spain  alone,  and  did  not  embrace  her 
coloiiit'.s  and  remote  possessions. 

The  second  prnjiosilion  of  the  British  plenifiolenliary  deserves  greater  att  i- 
tion.  Does  tin?  Noolka  Sound  Convenl'on  belong  to  llial  class  of  Ireaties  c«  »- 
tainin;^  •'  an  acknowledgment  of  subsisting  rights — an  admission  of  certain  prin- 
ciples of  international  law"  nol  to  be  abrogated  by  war  ?  Had  Spain,  by  this  con- 
Tenlion.  acknowledged  the  right  of  all  nations  to  make  discov(.'iies,  plant  settle- 
ments, and  estahlisli  colonies,  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  bringing  with 
them  their  sovereign  jurisdieticm,  there  would  have  been  much  force  in  the  argu- 
ment. Ihil  such  an  admission  never  was  matio,  and  never  was  intended  to 
be  made,  by  Spain.  The  Noolka  Cotiveiition  is  aibiiniry  and  arlilicial  in 
the  highest  degree,  and  is  anylliiiig  rather  than  the  mere  acknowledgment  of 
sim])le  and  elenjentiiry  piinciples  consecrated  by  ilie  laws  of  nations.  In  all  its 
provisions  it  is  e.xpressly  confined  to  Great  IJritain  and  Spiin,  and  acknowledges 
no  right  whatever  in  any  ihird  power  to  interfere  willi  the  northwest  coast  of 
America. 

Neither  in  its  terms  nor  in  its  essence  does  the  Nootka  Sound  Convention  con- 
tain any  acknowlodgiiient  of  previously  subsisting  territorial  rights  in  Great 
Britain,  or  any  other  nation.  It  is  strictly  confined  to  future  engagements;  and 
these  are  of  a  most  peculiar  character.  l''ven  under  the  construction  of  its  pro- 
visions maintained  by  Great  Britain,  hiT  claim  does  not  extend  to  |ilant  colonies; 
■which  she  would  have  a  right  to  do  iindiT  the  law  of  nations,  had  ihe  country 
been  uniippropriaied  ;  but  it  is  limited  to  a  mere  right  of  joint  occupancy,  not  ia 
re.'pect  to  any  part,  luit  to  the  wh(de,  the  sovereignty  remaining  in  abeyance. 
And  to  wiint  kind  of  occupancy  ?  Not  separate  and  distinct  colonies,  but  scat- 
tered settlements  inteimiiigled  with  each  other,  over  the  whol."  surface  of  the 
territory,  for  the  single  purpose  of  trading  with  the  Indians,  to  all  of  which  the 
subjects  of  each  power  shotilil  have  free  access,  the  riijhl  of  exclusive  dominion 
remaining  suspended.  Surely,  it  cannot  be  successfully  contended  that  such  a 
treaty  is  "  an  aiunission  of  certain  principles  of  international  law,"  so  sacred  and 
so  perpetual  in  thtir  nature  as  not  to  be  annulled  by  war.  On  the  contrary,  from 
Die  character  of  its  provisions,  it  cannot  be  supposed  for  a  single  moment  that  it 
was  iiitend.'d  for  any  purp.)se  but  that  of  a  mere  temporary  arr.ingemeiit  between 
Great  Britain  and  Spain.  Tiie  law  of  nations  recognises  no  si;cli  principles  ia 
regard  to  unappropriated  territory  as  those  einbraciul  in  this  treaty  ;  and  the 
British  plenipotentiary  must  fail  in  the  attempt  to  prove  that  it  contains  '"  an  ad- 
mission of  certain  principles  of  international  law  which  will  survive  the  shock  of 
war. 

But  the  British  plenipotentiary  contends,  that,  from  the  silence  of  Spain  during 
the  negotiations  of  1818  between  Greu  Brii-uii  and  the  United  States  respecting 
the  Oregon  territory,  as  well  as  ''  from  her  silence  with  respect  to  the  continued 
occupation  by  the  British  of  their  settlements  in  the  Columbia  territory,  subse- 
quently to  the  convention  of  18H,"  it  may  fairly  "be  inferred  that  Spain  con- 
sidered the  stipiihilioDS  of  the  Nootka  Convention,  and  the  principles  therein 
laid  down,  to  be  still  in  force." 

The  undersigned  cannot  imagine  a  ca.se  where  the  obligations  of  a  treaty  once 


6 

extinjjuialied  by  wnr,  ran  be  rovived  williotit  n  posillvp  Bijreoinpnt  to  this  offect 
belwcfii  the  pnilii^s.  Kveii  if  hoth  priii's,  aftir  the  coik  liision  of  pence,  shouUI 
perforni  positive  uiul  uncipiivoial  nets  in  acccivilancu  w  iih  il.s  proviKioiiN,  these 
must  be  consiruetl  as  iiurcly  voluiilurv.  to  \ni  (liscoiilinticd  by  either  at  pUasiiie. 
But  in  tlie  present  case  it  is  not  even  preli ml'  li  llial  Spain  perforinecl  any  :\(  I  in 
acroidance  wilii  the  eonvtiition  of  INootlva  SihiikI,  after  her  treaty  with  (Jreut 
Britain  of  1814.      Her  mere  silence  is  relied  up  in  to  revive  that  convention. 

The  undei>ij;no(!  asserts  eonlidently,  that  neither  by  public  nor  private  law  will 
the  mere  silence  ot  one  parly,  wlulf-t  another  is  encroaidiin;^  upon  his  ri<^hts,even 
if  he  h  d  l;nowle(!i.'e  of  lliis  eiicroiiehineni,  d(  privc  him  of  tlnse  ii};hls.  If  this 
princi  ill-  he  correct,  at;  applied  to  iiidividn.ils,  it  luilds  with  much  t^reater  force  in 
regard  lo  nations  The  feihie  may  not  he  ni  a  cunditioii  to  complain  against  the 
powerful  ;  and  thus  the  encroachment  of  ihe  strong  would  convert  itself  into  a 
perfect  tidi'  n<>nin-t  the  weak. 

In  tiie  pi('S(;iil  case,  it  was  Hcarcely  possible  for  Spain  even  to  liave  learned  the 
pendeii.  y  of  n";^i)tiati<ius  between  the  Unilcd  Siiites  and  (Jreal  liriiain,  in  relation 
to  the  northwest  coast  ol  America,  before  siie  had  redid  all  ii<  i  iii;his  on  that 
coast  to  the  former  by  the  Floriila  treaty  of  2'2(l  February,  ISl'.).  'I'he  conven- 
tion of  joint  occupalioii  b/-tw((  !i  the  Uniii'd  Stiles  and  (ireal  H  iiain  was  not 
signed  in  Luiuh  n  till  the  20ili  ()i:iol,er.  18 IS,  but  four  iin)iilhs  previous  to  the  date 
of  the  Florida  treaty  ;  and  ilie  ruiillcations  were  nut  e.\(d.aiiged,  and  the  conven- 
tion published,  until  the  oOlh  of  .hniuaiy,  IS  IS). 

Besides,  the  negotiations  whicli  termiiialed  in  the  I'lorida  treaty  had  bfien  rom- 
menced  as  early  as  December,  181"),  atiil  were  in  fidl  pio^riss  on  the  20lh  Octo- 
ber, 1818,  w!;en  this  convention  whs  .«ii;iied  between  (ireat  Hrilain  and  the  Fniled 
States.  It  does  oot  apj)ear,  therefore,  that  Si)aiii  had  any  knowleilge  ol  the  exist- 
ence of  these  nej^oiiations  ;  and  even  if  tins  were  otherwise,  she  would  have  had 
no  motive  to  conpluin,  as  she  was  in  the  very  act  of  transferring  all  her  rights 
to  the  United  Staie^. 

But,  says  the  British  plenipotentiary,  Spain  looked  in  silence  on  the  continued 
occupation  by  the  British  of  the  settlements  in  the  Columbia  territory  .-'.ibse- 
quently  to  the  convention  of  1811;  and,  ihendoie,  she  considered  the  Nootka 
Sound  (\)nvntioii  lo  be  still  in  force.  The  [criod  of  this  silence,  so  i'ar  as  it 
could  atlect  Spun,  eomineiiced  o;i  tlie2>'-iih  day  of  Anwusi,  1814,  the  dale  of  the  ad- 
ditional a.nicles  to  the  tre.ity  of  Madrid,  and  terniinali^d  on  the  2'2i\  Fel)ruary,  ISl'J^ 
the  date  of  the  Florida  treaty.  Is  there  the  least  reason  from  this  silence  to  infer 
an  adiiiis'<i.iii  by  Siuin  «  (  the  coiitiiuied  exiyteiicc  rf  the  Ni cika  S.iiiiid  i'oiiven- 
tion  r  111  tlie  iirsl  place,  this  tonveiiiion  was  entirely  eonlined  "  to  landing  on 
the  coasts  of  tiiose  seas,  in  pbircs  not  already  ocru[)ied,  for  the  piir[)ose  of  carry- 
ing on  their  commerce,  with  the  natives  of  the  cotinlry,  or  oi  making  settlements 
there."     It  ilid  not  extend  to  the  interior. 

At  the  (iate  ol'  lliis  (lonveiiti;  n,  no  pi  r<on  dreanud  that  Briti--h  traders  from 
Canad.i,  or  Hudson's  Bay,  woidd  cross  the  Rocky  iMoniitains  am!  eneroach  «n 
the  right-  of  Spain  frt)m  that  (piarter.  Great  Biitain  had  never  made  any  settle- 
ment on  the  not  lb  western  coa>i  of  America,  from  the  date  of  the  Nooika  Sound  Con- 
vention until  the  yOd  Felirnury,  1819;  nor,  so  far  as  the  imdersigned  is  iid'orm- 
ed,  has  she  done  f-o  down  to  the  present  moineni.  Spam  could  not,  therefore, 
have  complained  of  any  .'•uch  seitleii  eiit.  In  re;;aid  to  the  encroachments  which 
had  been  made  from  the  interior  by  the  Noiihwest  Company,  neither  Spain  nor 
the  rest  of  the  world  had  any  specific  knowledge  of  their  existence.  But  even 
if  the  British  plenipotentiary  had  brouglit  such  knowledge  home  to  her — which 
he  has  not  attempted — she  had  been  exhausted  by  one  long  and  bloody  war,  and 
was  then  engaged  in  another  widi  her  colonic..^;  and  was,  besides,  negotiating  for 
a  transfer  of  all  her  rights  on  the  northwestern  coast  of  America  to  the  United 
States.     Surely  these  were  suiQcient  reasons   for  her  silence,  without   inferring 


\ 


from  it  that  she  acquiesced  in  thn  continued  exiNtrnce  of  the  Nootka  Convention. 
ir  Spain  iiud  entertained  the  lount  idea  that  the  Nootka  Convention  was  still  in 
force,  her  good  faith  and  her  national  honor  would  have  cauRed  her  to  rommuni- 
eatc  this  fad  to  the  United  States  before  she  hud  ceded  thin  territory  to  tlieni  for 
an  ample  consideration.  Not  the  least  intimaiion  of  this  kind  was  ever  conimu- 
oicated. 

Like  Great  IJiitain  in  1818,  Spain  in  1819  had  no  idea  that  the  Nootka   Sound 
Convention  wuh  in  furco.     It  had  then  pawacd  away,  and  was  forgotten. 

The  lirilish  plenipotentiary  alleges,  that  the  reiiHon  why  Great  Hritnin  did  not 
assert  the  existence  of  the  Nootka  Convention  during  the  negotiations  bi-iwecn 
the  two  Governments  in  1818,  was,  that  no  occasion  had  arisen  for  its  interposi- 
tion, the  American  Government  not  having  then  nrciuircd  the  title  of  Spuin.  Ft 
»  very  true  that  the  United  States  had  not  llien  acquired  the  Spanish  title;  hut  is 
it  possible  to  imagine,  that  throughout  the  whole  negotiation,  tlie  British  cominis- 
•ioners,  had  tlu-y  supposed  this  convention  to  have  betn  in  existence,  would  have 
remained  entirely  silent  in  regard  to  a  treaty  which,  as  Great  Ikilaiu  now  alleges, 
gave  lier  ecjuul  and  co-ordinate  rights  with  Spain  to  the  whole  northwest  coast  of 
America  ?  At  that  period.  Great  Britain  confined  her  claims  to  those  ariising  from  dis- 
covery and  purchase  from  the  Indians-  How  vastly  she  could  have  strengthened 
these  claim?,  had  she  then  supposed  the  Nootka  Convention  to  be  in  force,  with 
her  present  construction  of  its  provisions-.  Kven  in  1821  it  was  first  introduced 
into  the  negotiation,  not  by  her  commi.«sioner.s,  but  by  Mr.  Rush,  the  American 
plenipotentiary. 

But  the  British  plenipotentiary  argues  that  "ilie  United  States  can  found  no 
•lairn  on  discovery,  exploration,  and  settlement  ellected  previously  to  the  Florida 
treaty,  without  admitting  the  principles  of  the  Nootka  Convention;"  "nor  can 
they  a|)peal  to  any  exclusive  right  as  acquired  by  the  Florida  treaty,  without  up- 
setting all  claims  adduced  in  their  own  proper  right,  by  reason  of  discovery,  ex- 
ploration, and  settlement  antecedent  to  that  arrangement.''' 

This  is  a  :  mst  ingenious  method  of  making  two  distinct  and  independent  titles 
held  by  the  same  nation  worse  than  one — of  arraying  them  against  each  other, 
and  thus  destroying  the  validity  of  both.  Docs  he  forget  that  the  United  States 
own  both  these  titles,  and  can  wield  them  either  separately  or  conjointly  against 
the  claim  of  Great  Britain  at  their  pleasure  ?  Krom  the  course  of  his  remarks,  it 
might  be  supposed  that  Great  Britain,  and  not  the  United  State.'',  had  acquired  the 
Spanish  titlj  under  the  Florida  treaty.  But  Great  Britain  is  a  third  parly — an  en- 
tire stranger  to  both  these  titles — and  has  no  right  whatever  to  mar.^hal  the  one 
against  the  other. 

By  what  authority  can  Great  Britain  interpose  in  this  manner  ?  Was  it  ever 
imagined  in  any  court  of  justice  that  liie  acquisition  of  a  new  title  destroyed  the 
old  one;  and  vice  t'cr.w,  that  the  purchase  of  the  old  title  destroyed  the  new  one  ? 
In  a  question  of  mere  private  right,  it  would  be  consulered  absurd,  if  a  stranger 
to  both  titles  should  say  to  the  parly  who  had  made  a  seldemenl :  Vou  ."hall  not 
avail  yourself  of  your  possession,  because  this  was  taken  in  violation  of  another 
outstanding  title;  and  although  1  must  admit  that  you  have  also  acquired  this  out- 
standing title,  yet  even  this  shall  avail  yon  nothing,  because  having  taken  posses- 
sion previously  to  your  purchase,  you  thereby  evinv  '  "  ;  t  you  did  not  regard  such 
title  as  valid.  And  yet  such  is  the  mode  by  which  the  British  plenipotentiary 
has  attemj)ted  to  destroy  both  the  American  and  Spanish  titles.  On  the  contrary, 
in  the  case  mentioned,  the  possession  and  the  outstanding  title  being  united  in  the 
same  individual,  these  conjointed  would  be  as  perfect  as  if  both  had  been  vested 
in  him  from  the  beginning. 

The  undersigned,  whilst  strongly  assertin?  loth  these  titles,  and  believing  each 
of  them  separately  to  be  good  as  against  Gi  •  it  Britain,  as  studiously  avoided  in- 
stituting any  comparison  between  them.     i-Jt  admitting,  for  the  sake  of  the  ar- 


} 


gument  merely,  thul  the  tliscovery  by  Captuin  Gray  of  tlui  mouth  of  the  Columbia, 
its  exploration  by  Lewitt  and  Clarkt>,  and  the  sottlemcnt  upon  its  bunks  at  Asto- 
ria, wore  encroachments  on  Spain,  she,  and  she  alone,  had  a  rii^ht  to  complain. 
(Jrcut  Britain  was  a  third  party;  and,  as  such,  had  no  rii>ht  to  interfere  in  the 
(|uestion  between  Spain  and  the  United  States.  Hut  Spain,  instead  of  complnin- 
in!(  of  these  acts  as  »(ncroachineiiH,  on  the  22d  Fel»ruary,  iHl'J,  by  the  Florida 
treaty,  transfiried  the  whole  title  to  the  United  Status.  From  that  nionnMit  all 
possible  con(li(tt  l)etvv'  ';n  the  two  liih's  was  ended,  both  bciiifr  uiiilcd  in  the  same 
party.  Two  lilies  which  niiifht  have  conllieied,  therefore,  were  llins  bleuil'-d  to- 
gether. The  title  now  vested  in  the  United  Slates  is  just  as  stroiijr  as  thouEfh 
every  act  of  discovery,  exphiralion,  and  seltlement  on  the  |)arl  ol  l)()lli  poworn 
hiid  been  performed  by  Spain  alone,  bt  fore  she  h.ul  traiifeired  all  her  ris^hls  to  the 
United  Stales.  The  two  powers  arc  one  in  thii  respect;  the  two  titles  are  one; 
and,  as  the  under»iij;ned  will  show  hereafter,  they  serve  to  ronfirm  and  streiif^then 
each  other.  If  (ireat  Britain,  in.xte.  of  the  United  States,  hud  acqnired  the  title 
of  Spain,  she  mii^ht  have  contended  that  those  acl.s  of  the  United  Slates  were  en- 
croachmci.'ls;  but,  standin^r  in  {[m  altitude  of  a  stranger  to  both  lilies,  she  has  no 
right  to  interfere  in  the  matter. 

The  undersifrned  deems  it  unnecessary  to  pursue  this  branch  of  the  subject  fur- 
ther than  to  state,  that  the  United  Slates,  before  they  had  acquired  the  title  of 
Spain,  always  treated  that  title  with  respect,  in  ths  negotiation  of  1818,  the 
American  plenipoteniiaries ''did  not  assert  that  the  United  States  had  a  perfect  rin;ht 
to  that  country;  but  insisted  that  their  claim  was  at  least  good  aijainst  Great  Bri- 
tain;" and  the  convention  of  October  20,  1818,  unlike  that  of  Noolka  Sound,  re- 
served the  claims  of  any  other  power  or  Stale  to  any  part  of  the  said  country.  This 
reservation  could  have  been  intended  for  Spain  alone.  But,  ever  since  the  Uni- 
ted Stales  ac([uired  the  Spanish  title,  ihey  liave  always  asserted  and  maintained 
their  rijfht  in  the  strongest  terms  up  to  the  Russian  line,  even  whilst  offering,  for 
the  sake  of  harmony  and  peace,  to  divide  the  territory  in  dispute  by  the  4Ulh  pa- 
rallel of  latitude. 

The  British  plenipotentiary,  then,  has  entirely  failed  to  sustain  liis  position, that 
the  United  Stales  can  found  no  claim  on  discovery,  exploration,  and  settlement, 
without  admitting  the  principles  of  the  Nootka  Convention.  That  conventioa 
died  on  the  commencement  ol  the  war  between  Spain  and  England,  in  1796,  and 
has  never  since  been  revived. 

The  B-  lish  plenipotentiary  next  "endeavors  to  prove  that,  even  if  the  Nootka 
Sound  Convention  h.'id  never  existed,  the  position  of  Great  Britain  in  regard  to 
her  claim,  whether  to  ilie  whole  or  to  any  particular  portion  of  the  Oregon  terri- 
tory, is  at  least  as  good  as  that  of  the  United  Stales."  In  order  to  establish  this 
position,  he  must  show  that  the  British  claim  is  equal  in  validity  to  the  titles  both 
of  Spain  and  the  United  States.  These  cati  never  now  be  separated.  They  are 
one  and  the  samo.  DilFerfnt  and  diverging  as  they  may  have  been  before  the 
Florida  treaty,  they  are  now  blended  together  and  identilied.  The  separate  dis- 
coTeries,  explorations,  and  setllem-'nts  of  the  two  powers  previous  to  that  date 
must  now  be  considered  as  if  they  had  all  been  made  by  the  United  States  alone. 
Under  this  palpable  view  of  the  subject,  the  undersigned  was  surprised  to  find  thai 
in  the  comparison  and  contrast  instituted  by  the  British  plenipotentiary  between 
the  claim  of  Great  Britain  and  that  of  the  United  Slates,  he  had  entirely  omitted 
to  refer  to  the  discoveries,  explorations,  and  settlements  made  by  Spain.  The  un- 
dersigned will  endeavor  to  supply  the  omission. 

But,  before  he  proceeds  to  the  main  argument  on  this  point,  he  feels  himself 
constrained  to  express  his  surprise  that  the  British  plenipotentiary  should  agaia 
have  invoked  in  support  of  theBriti.sh  title  the  inconsistcni;y  betw»i"  the  Spanish 
and  American  branches  of  the  title  of  the  United  States.  The  e  iii  r-  .j^ncd  cannot 
forbear  to  congratulate  himself  upon  the  fact,  that  a  gentleman  oi  Mr  Pakenham's 


e 


acknowlcdgrd  ahiliiy  lins  hrcw  rciliircd  to  the  nccesnily  of  relying  chirfly  ii|*on 
audi  a  8ii(i|)iHt  for  Hii-'tHiiiiiiir  llu-  Urilinli  pretPn»ii)iiH.  Slntrd  in  lirief,  llic  nrgu- 
nipnt  is  ilii>:  tin-  Ainfiio.m  lidi;  i.s  not  ^ond  iiijHitiHt  (ircitt  Ikiliiiii,  l)('r;iii«(!  tncDn- 
siHtciil  widi  that  of  Spain;  ii>id  the  S|miiisli  liilt;  in  iml  (,'ood  O'iiiinsl  (ircHl  Hiiliiin, 
lirraii.s(?  iii(;tin?«isti'nt  with  lliai  (if  Ihi'  Dnit'-d  States.  Thn  undcisiuiioil  had  I'vpcrt- 
ed  Ni.ini'iliin;;  far  dilii'icnl  lioin  .such  ;iii  »ri{iiin(Mii  it)  n  circle,  llt'hiid  luiiiripalcd 
that  ihp  Uriii-h  phi>i[  oicniiary  would  Invn  nticiiiptpd  to  prove  tiial  Spain  liml  no 
ri({lit  to  lh(!  norlhwe«icr;i  const  id'  America;  thai  it  was  vacant  and  nnn[ipropriiited; 
and  hcnci',  iridi-r  llin  law  of  nations,  wasopcu  to  dis't'ovtry,  ('xploiiiiion,  and  i>et- 
(li-in<Mii,  l>y  ,1.1  nation:-!,      lint  no  nmcIi  ihintr. 

(Jn  ihi.s  vital  point  of  Inn  cjce,  ho  rests  his  nrptiment  solely  on  ilic  declara- 
tion made  hy  the  iinderHi;;iied,  that  the  title  (>•'  •'■  •  Uni'ed  Staler  lo  Ihe  valley  of 
the  I'liluiiiliia  was  |icriect  aiid  ci  inplcle  h-fori'  ''"•  tuatie.i  of  joint  occiipali'm 
of  Ociolier,  INIH,  iind  Aii'.^n-t,  1S:27,  and  heloro  t!i  date  ol  the  I'lorihi  treaty  in 
IHIO.  iiiil  liic  liiili.sli  plenipolciitiiiry  oiinlit  '  •  lecojlecl  that  ihis  litlo  v.ns  bh- 
st'itod  lo  1)1!  coiiiplde  not  a:;ain~l  Spain,  hiu  ajjuin  •  tireat  liiituin;  that  the  aii;u- 
ment  wbs  coiulu(;l"d  not  ns;am.st  a  Spani.iii,  Imt  a  Uri^iwh  plciiipoienliary ;  and  liiat 
tilt!  Ifnilcd  Stales,  and  not  Cireal  Diitain,  repr(!sfiit  .'in-  Spanish  title.  And  fnr- 
iher,  tiiat  the  statenumt  I'roni  which  lie  extracts  ilii-'C  declarations  was  almost  ex- 
clusively devoted  to  prove,  in  the  lanirna^e  (jiioled  hy  ihn  Hrilinh  i)leiii|)olenlinry 
himself,  that  ''Spain  had  a  ijood  title,  as  nifaiini  Britain,  to  the  whole  of  the  Ore- 
gon territory."  The  iindfryisrned  hu.s  never,  as  lie  bv  fore  ohserved,  instituted  any 
C(im|)arisi)n  hetween  the  .\ineric:in  aed  the  Sjianisli  tides.  HoMiinr  hotli  —  havin!^ 
a  perl'cct  riirht  lo  n  ly  U|)on  hoth,  whether  jointly  or  separately — he  iia.s  (Jirongly 
asserted  each  of  them  in  their  turn,  fully  persuaded  that  either  tiie  one  or  the 
otiu-r  is  j,Mod  aijainst  (Jreai  Hrituin;  and  that  no  human  inge'iuity  can  mtdie  the 
Spanish  title,  now  vested  in  the  IJniiid  .'Mates,  woi.^e  th.iii  it  would  lisive  hceu 
had  It  reiiiaiiK'd  in  the  hands  of  Sjiain. 

Briedy  to  illustrate  and  enfuice  tliis  title,  shall  iie  the  remuiuing  task  of  the  nn- 
dcrsi^Mied. 

And.  in  the  f\ryt  place,  he  cannot  iiiit  commend  the  frankness  and  candor  of  the 
British  plenipotentuiry  in  dej,artin<r  h'om  ihe  course  of  his  predecessor.",  and  re- 
jectintj  all  disciiveries  previous  to  tho'se  of  Captain  Cook,  in  the  year  1778,  as 
foundations  of  British  lille.  Coriiineiicinw  witii  discovery  at  a  ()"riod  so  late,  the 
Spanish  lille,  on  the  score  of  antiquity,  presents  a  strong  contrast  lo  that  of  Great 
Britain.  'I'he  undersigned  had  stated  nsa  historical  and ''strikini«  fact,  which  must 
havean  important  liearin^a^'.ini-ltlie  claim  of  (j real  Britain,  thai  this  convention, (the 
Nootka)  which  wasiiicialed  liy  her  to  Sphin,  contaiiiR  no  provision  impairins;  the 
ultimate  soverei;;;nty  whicii  that  power  had  asserted  for  nenily  three  centuries  over 
the  wlnde  western  side  of  North  America  as  far  north  as  the  61sl  ilefiree  of  lati- 
tude, and  which  had  never  heen  seriously  questioned  hy  any  l"'niopciiii  nation. 
This  ri^rht  had  been  mainUiined  l)y  Spain  with  the  most  viyihint  jealousy,  ever 
since  the  dis-covery  '"f  the  American  continent,  and  had  been  ac(]uiesced  in  by  all 
European  governments.  It  lind  heen  admil'eil  even  lieyniul  the  laliludc  of  54  de- 
grees 40  minutes  north  by  Russia,  then  the  only  power  bnvinf^  claims  which 
could  come  in  collision  with  Sp;un;  and  that,  to  ■,  under  a  sovereijfn  pe(;uii  irly  te- 
nacious of  the  territorial  ri);;lils  of  her  empire  "  These  historical  facts  had  not 
been,  as  they  could  not  be,  controverted  i\y  the  British  plenipotentiary,  although 
they  were  brought  under  bis  particular  observation,  ntid  were  even  quoted  by  him 
with  approbation,  for  the  pur[)ose  of  showins;  the  inconsistency  of  thoseveral  titles 
held  by  the  United  States.  ]n  tiie  lan£rnagc  of  Count  Fernan  de  Nunez,  the 
Spanish  ambassador  at  Paris,  lo  M-  de  Moiitmorin,  llieSectetary  of  the  FoieignDe- 
parlmentofFrance,  undedateot  Paris,  June  16, 1790:  '"By  the  treaties,  demarcations, 
takings  of  possession,  and  the  most  decided  acts  o.'sovereignty  exercised  by  the 
Spaniards  in  those  stations  from  the  reign  of  Charles  11,  and  authorized  by  that 


10 

monarch  in  1692,  the  original  vouchers  for  which  shall  be  hrousjht  forward  in    - 
the  course  of  tlio  negoliulion,  all  the  coast  to  the  north  of  the  western  America,  on    ■ 
the  side  of  the  Soiitli  sea  as  far  as  bfyoiid  what  is  called  Prince  William's  sound, 
which  i.s  in  the  Gist  dej^ree,  is  acknowiedged  to  helon"^  exclusively  to  Spain." 

Compared  with  this  ancient  claim  of  Spain,  ac(]uie3ced  in  hy  all  European  na- 
tions for  centuries,  the  claim  of  Great  Britain,  founded  on  discoveries  commenced 
at  so  late  a  period  as  ihi?  year  1778,  must  make  an  unfavorable  first  impression. 

Spain  considi'red  the  north>vesl  coast  of  Aineiira  as  exclusively  her  own.  She 
did  not  send  out  cx|)i;diiiijns  to  explore  that  coast,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  her 
title  more  valid.  When  it  suited  Iht  own  convenience,  or  promoted  her  own 
interest,  she  tilled  out  such  expeditions  of  discovery  to  ascertain  the  character  and 
extent  of  her  own  territory;  and  yet  her  discoveries  along  that  coast  are  far  earlier 
than  those  of  the  British. 

That  Juan  do  Fuca,  a  Gieek  in  the  service  of  Spain,  in  1592,  discovered  and 
sailed  through  tliu  sliait  now  beaiing  his  name,  from  its  southern  to  its  northern 
extremity,  and  thence  returned  by  the  same  passage,  no  lonjjer  admits  of  reasona- 
ble doubt.  Am  account  of  this  voyaj^e  was  pnblished  in  London  in  1(525,  in  a 
work  called  the  Piljfrims,  by  Sinmel  Purcliu'^.  This  account  was  received  from 
the  lips  of  Fiiea  iiiiuself,  at  V^enice,  in  April,  1596,  by  Michael  Lock,  a  iiighly 
respectable  English  merchant. 

During  a  Ion;;  period,  this  voyage  was  deemed  fabulous,  because  subsequent 
navigators  bad  in  vain  attempted  to  find  these  sirails.  Finally,  after  they  had 
been  found,  it  was  discovered  that  the  descriplions  ol  de  Fnca  corresponded  so 
accurately  with  tlieir  geography,  and  the  fails  presented  by  natuie  upon  the 
ground,  that  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  consider  his  narration  as  fabulous.  It 
is  true  that  the  opening  of  the  straits  from  the  south  lies  between  the.  48ih  and 
49lh  ijarallels  of  latitude,  aiul  not  between  the  47lli  and  48lli  parallels,  as  he  had 
supposed;  but  ihis  mistake  may  be  easily  explained  by  the  inaccuracy  so  common 
throughi'  It  the  sixteenth  century  in  ascerlaming  the  latitude  of  places  in  newly  • 
discovered  countries. 

It  is  also  true  thai  de  Fuca,  after  passing  through  these  straits,  supposed  he 
had  reached  ili"  Atlantic,  and  had  discovered  the  passage  so  long  and  so  anxiously 
sought  alter  between  the  two  oceans,  but  from  the  loud  ignorance  and  misappre- 
hension which  prevailed  at  that  early  day  of  the  geography  of  this  portion  of 
IVorth  America,  it  was  natural  for  Itim  to  believe  that  he  had  made  this  important 
discovery. 

Justice  has  at  leniitii  lieen  done  to  his  memory,  and  tliese  straits,  which  lie  dis- 
covered, will,  in  all  future  time.  Iicar  his  name.  Thus,  the  merit  of  the  discovery 
of  ihe  straits  of  Fuca,  belongs  lo  Spain;  and  this  nearly  two  centuries  before  they 
had  been  entered  by  Captain  Berk,  ley,  under  thf  Ansirian  (l.ig. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  detail  ilie  discoveries  of  the  Spaniards,  as  they  rejrnlarly 
advanced  to  the  north  from  their  SfUlenienls  on  the  western  coasts  ot  North  Ame- 
rica, until  we  reach  the  voyage  of  Ca()l.  Jiiaii  Perez,  in  1771.  That  navigator 
was  commissioned  by  tiie  viceroy  of  Mexico  to  proceed,  in  the  corvette  Santiago, 
to  the  00th  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  from  th:it  point  to  examine  the  coast 
down  to  Mexico.  He  sailed  from  San  Bias  on  the  25ih  .lanuary,  1774.  In  the 
performance  of  this  commission  he  laiuled  first  on  Ihe  northwest  coast  of  Queen 
Charlotte's  island,  near  the  .'J4th  degree  of  north  latitude;  and  thence  proceeded 
south,  along  the  slior<^  of  that  island  and  of  the  great  islands  of  Quadra  and  Van- 
couver; and  then  along  the  coast  of  the  continent,  until  he  reached  Monterey.  He 
went  on  shore  and  held  inl'rcourse  with  the  natives  at  several  places;  and  espe- 
cially at  the  entr.mce  of  a  bay  in  latitude  492  degrees,  which  he  called  Port  San 
Lorenzo — the  same  now  known  by  the  name  of  Nootka  Sound,  lu  addition  to 
the  journals  of  this  voyage,  which  render  the  fact  inconiestible,  we  have  the 
high  authority  of  Baron  Humboldt  in  its  favor.That  distinguished  traveller,  who  had 


V 


I  i 


*  11 

/  access  to  the  manuscript  documents  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  slates  that  "Perez, 
^  anc' his  pilot  Estevan  Martinez,  left  the  port  of  San  Bias  om  the  24lh  Jannary, 
/  1774.     On  the  9th  of  AnLUist  they  aiichorcil  (tlie  first  of  all  European  navigators) 

in  Nootka  roar),  which  they  called  the  port  of  San  Lorenzo,  and  which  the  illus- 
trious Cook,  four  years  nflerwards,  called  King  George's  sound." 

In  the  next  year,  (1775,)  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  ag.iin  fitted  out  the  Santiago, 
under  th-i  command  of  Bruno  Ileceia,  wilh  Perez,  iier  iornier  commander,  as  en- 
sign, and  also  a  schooner,  called  the  Sonora,  commanded  hy.luan  Francisco  de  la 
Bocltga  y  (Jiiadra.  These  vessels  were  commissioned  to  examine  the  northwest- 
ern coast  of  America  as  far  as  the  65tli  degree  of  latitude,  and  sailed  in  company 
from  San  Bias  on  the  15ih  March,  177:"). 

It  is  unneccfssary  to  enumerate  the  different  places  on  the  coast  examined  hy 
these  navigators,  either  in  conjpany  or  sejiarately.  SnOice  it  to  say,  thai  they 
landed  at  many  places  on  the  coast  from  the  4lst  to  the  57th  decree  of  latitude, 
on  all  of  which  occasions  they  took  jjossession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of 
their  sovereign,  according  to  a  prescribed  regulation  ;  celebrating  mass,  reading 
declarations  asserting  tiie  right  of  Spain  to  tlie  territory,  and  erecting  crosses  with 
inscrijilions,  to  conimeinorale  tiie  event.  Some  of  these  crosses  were  aftL-rwards 
fou'  'I  standing  by  British  navigators.  In  relation  to  these  voyages.  Baron  Hum- 
boldt says  .  "  In  the  following  year,  (1775,  alter  that  of  Perez.)  a  second  expe- 
dition set  out  from  San  J3las,  under  the  command  of  lltcela,  Ayaln,  and  (Quadra. 
Hecela  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  Bio  Columbia,  called  it  the  Kntraca  de  He- 
ceta,  the  peak  of  the  San  Jacinto,  (Mount  I'^^dgecond),)  near  Norfolk  Bay,  and  the 
fine  port  ((f  Bucareli.  1  possess  two  very  curious  small  maps,  engraved  in  178S, 
in  the  city  of  Mexico,  which  give  the  bearinsfs  of  the  coast  from  the  27lb  to  the 
58ih  degree  of  latitude,  as  they  were  disu-overed  in  the  expedition  of  (Juadia." 

In  the  face  of  these  incontestible  facts,  the  Ikitish  plenipotentiary  siys,  "  that 
Capt.  Cook  must  also  be  considered  the  discoverer  of  Nootka  Sound,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  want  of  authenticity  in  the  alleged  previous  discovery  of  ttiat  port 
by  Perez."  And  yet  Cook  did  not  even  sail  from  Ivigland  until  the  l^Jiii  July, 
1776 — nearly  twoycars  after  Perez  had  made  this  discovery.  The  thief  object  of 
Cook's  voyage  was  the  discovery  of  a  nortlnvest  pas.sage  ;  and  he  never  landed 
8t  anj-  point  of  the  continent  soutli  of  Nootka  SjuikI.  It  is  true,  that  in  coasting 
along  the  continent,  betoic  he  readied  this  pi  ice,  he  had  observed  Cape  Flattery; 
but  he  was  entirely  ignorant  that  this  was  the  southern  entrance  of  the  Straits  of 
Fuca.  In  liis  Jonniul  he  admits  that  be  '  '  beard  some  iiccount  of  ibc  Spanish 
voyages  of  1774  and  1775,  before  he  leu  England;  and  it  is  l)eyond  question 
that,  before  his  departure,  accounts  of  the  voyage  of  Quadra  had  been  published, 
both  in  Madiid  and  Loiulon.  From  Nootka  S!)und.  Cook  did  not  again  see  land 
'intil  lie  reached  tlie  57th  degree  of  north  latitude. 

In  1787,  it  is  alleged  by  the  British  plenipotentiiry  that  Captain  Berkeley,  a 
British  subject,  discovered  tjie  Straits  of  Fuca;  hut  these  Straits  bad  Lei  n  discov- 
ered by  Juan  de  Fuca  nearly  two  centuijcs  liefoie.  Be,'.id>  s,  if  there  had  been 
any  merit  in  this  discovery  of  Capt.  Berkeley,  it  would  have  belonged  to  Austria, 
ill  wliose  seiviee  be  was,  and  under  whose  colors  he  sailed,  and  cannot  be  appro- 
priated by  Great  Britain. 

And  here  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  these  discoveries  of  Cook  and  Berkeley, 
in  177S  and  1787,  are  all  those  on  which  the  British  plenipotentiary  rilies,  pre- 
vious totht'dale  of  the  Nootka  Sound  Convention,  in  October,  17L)0,  to  defeat  the 
ancient  Spanish  title  to  the  northwest  coast  of  America. 

The  undersigned  will  now  take  a  position  which  cannot,  in  his  opinion,  be 
successfully  assailed;  and  this  is,  that  no  discovery,  exploration,  or  settlement 
made  by  Great  Britain  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  after  the  dale  of  the 
Nootka  Sound  Convention,  and  before  it  was  terminated  by  the  war  of  179(i,  can 
be  invoked  by  that  power  in  favor  of  her  own  title,  or  against  the  title  of  Spain. 


12 

Even  according  to  the  British  construction  of  tliat  convention,  the  sovereignty 
ove;  the  territory  was  to  remain  in  abeyance  during  its  continuance,  as  well  in 
regard  to  Great  Rrilain  as  to  Spain.  It  would,  tlierefore,  have  been  an  open  vio- 
lation of  faith  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  alter  bavins;  secured  the  privih'ges  con- 
ferred unon  her  Dy  the  convtMition  to  turn  round  a'^ainst  her  partner  and  perform 
«ny  acts  calcula'.cd  to  divest  Spain  of  her  iiltiniale  sovereii^iity  ovt:r  any  j)ortion  of 
the  country.  'Hie  palpable  meaning  of  the  convention  was,  that,  dnriii;;  its  con- 
tinuance, the  riirjits  of  the  respective  parties,  whatever  they  may  have  been,  should 
remain  just  as  tiiey  had  <'xi.-^if  d  at  its  comniencement. 

The  Goverunient  of  Great  Ikilaiu  is  not  justly  chnrfjeahle  willi  any  siu!]i  l;reach 
of  faith.  Captain  Vi'.ncouver  acted  without  instructi-ins  in  attempting  to  take 
possession  ol'tlio  whole  Hoitluvisiern  coast  ofAinfric.i  in  the  name  of  hi.^  ^oveieign. 
This  oflicer,  sent  out  Crotti  J']n;jland  to  execute  the  coiivciiiion,  did  not  carry  with 
him  any  auiliority  to  violate  it  in  this  outrageous  niantier. 

Without  this  treaty,  he  would  have  been  a  mere  intruder  ;  under  it,  Great 
Erilaiu  had  a  right  to  make  discoveries  and  surveys,  not  thereby  to  acquire  title, 
but  merely  to  enable  her  subjects  to  select  spots  the  most  advantageous,  to  use 
the  language  <>l' the  convention,  "for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  llieir  commerce 
with  the  natives  of  the  country,  or  of  making  settlements  there." 

if  this  construction  of  the  Nootka  Sound  Convention  be  correct — and  the  un- 
dersigned does  not  perceive  how  it  can  be  (juestioned — then  Vancouver's  passage 
through  the  Straits  of  Kuca,  in  1792,  atul  Alexander  Mackenzie's  journey  across 
the  continent,  in  1793,  can  never  be  transformed  into  elements  of  title  in  favor  of 
Great  Britain. 

But  even  if  the  imdersigned  could  be  mistaken  in  these  positions,  it  would  be 
easy  to  prove  that  Capt.  John  Kendrick,  in  the  American  sloop  Washington, 
passed  through  the  Straits  of  Fuca  in  17S'J,  three  years  before  Capt.  Vancouver 
perlornied  the  same  voyage.  The  very  instructions  to  the  latter,  b-l'ore  he  left 
Englaiid,  in  January,  1791,  refer  to  this  fact,  which  had  lieen  ccmmutiicated  to 
the  Britisli  Government  by  Lieut.  IVTeares,  who  has  rendered  his  name  so  noto- 
rious by  its  connection  with  the  tiausaciions  preceding  the  Nootka  Sound  Con- 
vention. It  is,  moreover,  well  known  tliat  the  whole  southern  division  of  the 
straits  had  been  explored  by  the  Spanish  navigators,  Elisa  and  Quimper — the  first 
in  1790,  and  the  latter  in  1701. 

After  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  perceived  how  little  reason  the  British  pleni- 
potentiary h.ts  for  stating  ihiil  his  government  has,  "  as  far  as  relates  to  Vancou- 
ver's Island,  as  complete  a  case  of  discovery,  exploration,  and  settlement,  as  can 
well  be  presented — giving  to  Great  Britain,  in  any  arrangement  that  may  be  made 
with  regard  to  ihe  territory  in  dispute,  t'le  strongest  possible  claim  to  tlje  exclu- 
sive possession  of  that  island." 

The  discovery  thus  relied  upon  is  tiiat  of  Nootka  Sound,  by  Cook,  in  1778; 
when  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  this  port   .vas  first  discovered  by  Perez,  in 

1774.  The  exploration  is  that  by  Vancouver,  in  passing  through  the  Straits  of 
Fuca,  in  1792,  and  examining  the  coasts  of  the  territory  in  dispute,  when  de  Fuca 
himself  had  passed  throiiirh  these  straits  in  1592,  and  Kendrick  again  in  1789; 
and  a  complete  examination   of  the   western  coast  liad  been  made  in  1771  and 

1775,  both  by  Perez  and  Quadra.  As  to  possession,  if  Meares  was  ever  actually 
restored  to  his  possessions  at  Nootka  »Sound,  whatever  these  may  have  been,  the 
undersigned  has  never  seen  any  evidence  of  the  fact.  It  is  not  to  hi*  fonnd  in  the 
journal  of  Vancouver,  although  this  officer  was  sent  from  England  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  witnessing  such  a  restoration.  The  undersigned  knows  not  whether 
any  new  understanding  took  place  between  the  British  and  Spanish  governments 
on  this  subject ;  but  one  fact  is  pi  iced  beyond  all  doubt,  that  the  Spaniards  con- 
tinued in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  Nootka  Sound  until  the  year  1795,  when 
they  voluntarily  abandoned  the  place.     Great  Britain  has  never  at  any  time  since 


•> 


\ 


/ 


13 


f' 


occupied  this  or  any  other  position  on  Vancouver's  island.  Thus,  on  the  score  of 
either  discovery,  exploration,  or  possession,  this  island  seems  to  be  the  very  last 
portion  of  the  territory  in  dispute  to  which  she  can  assert  a  just  claim. 

In  the  meantime,  the  United  Stales  were  proceeding  with  the  discoveries  which 
served  to  complete  and  confirm  the  Spanish  American  title  to  the  whole  of  the 
disputed  territory. 

Captain  Robert  Gray,  in  June,  1789,  in  the  sloop  Washington,  first  explored 
the  whole  eastern  coast  of  Queen  Charlotte's  isUnd. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  Cnptain  John  Kendrick — having  in  the  mean  time 
surrendered  the  command  of  the  Columbia  to  Captain  Gray — sailed,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  in  the  sloop  Washington,  entirely  through  the  straits  of  Fuca. 

In  1791,  Captain  Gray  returned  to  the  North  Pacific  in  the  Columbia;  and  in 
the  summer  of  that  year,  examined  many  of  the  inlets  and  passages  between  the 
54th  and  G6th  degrees  of  latitude,  which  the  undersigned  considers  it  unnecessary 
to  Hpecify. 

On  the  7lh  of  May,  1792,  he  discovered  and  entered  Bulfinch's  harbor,  where 
he  remained  at  anchor  three  days,  trading  with  the  Indians. 
4^0n  the  11th  May,  179'i,  Captain  Gniy  fiin.'red  the  moiitii  of  the  Columbia,  and 
completed  the  discovery  of  that  great  river.  This  river  had  been  iong  sought 
in  vain  by  former  navigators.  Doth  iMearrs  and  Vancouver,  after  exa.nination,  had 
denied  its  existence.  Thus  is  the  world  indebted  to  the  enterprise,  (^cseverance, 
and  intelligenco  ofan  American  captain  of  a  trading  vessel  for  their  first  knowleclgft 
of  this,  the  greatest  river  on  the  western  coast  oi'  America — a  river  wlio-we  head 
springs  flow  from  the  gorge.s  of  the  Rocky  .Mountains,  and  whose  branches  extend 
frein  the  42d  to  the  «53J  paralhds  of  latitude.  This  wa«  the  last  and  most  im- 
portant discovery  on  the  coast,  and  has  pfrpctuated  the  name  of  Robert  Gray. 
In  all  future  time  this  great  river  will  bear  the  name  of  his  vessel. 

It  is  true  that  Bruno  lleceta,  in  the  year  177o,  had  been  opposite  the  Bay  of 
the  Columbia;  and  the  currents  and  eddies  of  die  water  caused  liim,  as  he  remarks, 
to  believe  tliat  this  was  "the  mouth  of  some  grrat  rive:,  or  of  some  passage  to 
another  sea;"  and  his  opinion  .seems  deeideiily  to  have  been  that  this  was  the  open- 
ing of  the  strait  discovered  by  Juan  de  Fuca,  in  1592.  To  use  his  own  language: 
"Notwithstanding  the  great  diilerence  between  the  position  of  this  bay  and  the 
passage  mentioned  by  de  Fuca,  I  have  little  diflicnliy  in  conceiving  that  they  may 
be  the  same,  having  observed  equal  or  greater  difit;rences  in  the  latitudes  of  other 
capes  and  ports  on  this  coast,  as  I  shall  shov.'  at  its  prv>per  time;  and  in  all  cases 
the  latitudes  thus  assign  'd  are  higlier  than  the  real  ones." 

Ilecta,  from  his  own  declaration,  had  never  entered  the  Columbia;  and  he  was 
in  doubt  wiiether  the  opening  wa.s  the  mouth  of  a  river  or  an  arm  of  the  sea;  and 
subsequent  examinations  of  the  coast  by  other  navigators  had  rendered  theopinit»n 
universal  that  no  such  river  existed,  when  Gray  first  bore  the  American  flag 
across  its  bar,  sailed  up  its  channel  for  twenty-five  miles,  and  remained  in  the 
river  nine  days,  trading  with  the  Indians.   ^ 

The  British  plenipotentiary  attempts  to  depreciate  the  value  to  the  United  States 
of  Gray's  discovery,  because  his  ship  (the  Columbia)  was  a  trading,  and  not  a 
national,  vessel.  As  he  furnishes  no  reason  for  this  (li>tinc  ion.  the  undersigned 
will  confine,  himself  to  the  ren\ark  that  a  merchant  vessel  bears  the  flag  of  her 
country  at  her  mast-head,  and  continues  under  its  jurisdiction  and  protection,  in 
the  same  manner  as  though  she  had  been  commissioned  for  the  express  r"irp<»se 
of  making  discoveries.  Be.sides,  beyond  all  doubt,  this  disrovery  was  made  by 
Gray;  and  to  whnt  nation  could  the  benefit  of  it  belong,  unless  it  be  to  the  United 
States  ?  Certainly  not  to  Great  Brit;tio.  And  if  to  Spain,  the  United  Stateg  is 
now  her  representaiive. 

Nor  docs  the  u:idcrsigned  perceive  in  what  manner  the  value  of  this  great  dis- 
,  overy  can  be  lessened  by  the  fact  that  it  was  first  published  to  the  world  through 


14 


the  journal  of  Captain  Vancouver,  a  British  authority.  On  the  contrary,  its  au- 
thenticity being  thus  acknowledged  by  the  party  having  an  adverse  interest,  is 
more  firmly  established  than  if  it  had  been  first  published  in  the  United  States. 

From  a  careful  examination  and  revievf  of  the  subject,  the  undersigned  ven- 
tures the  assertion,  that  to  Spain  and  the  United  Statep  belong  all  the  merit  of 
the  discovery  of  the  northwest  coast  of  America  south  of  the  Russian  line,  not  a 
spot  of  which,  unless  it  may  have  been  the  shores  of  some  of  tiie  intev.or  bays 
and  inlets,  after  the  entrance  to  them  had  l)een  known,  was  ever  beh/zd  by  Bri- 
tish subjects,  until  after  it  had  been  seen  or  touched  by  a  Spaniard  or  hd  American. 

Spain  proceeded  in  this  work  of  discovery,  not  as  a  ineins  of  ac(H)iring  title, 
but  for  tl\e  purpose  of  examining  and  surveying  territory  to  which  she  believed 
she  had  an  inconteslible  right.  This  title  had  been  sanctioned  for  centuries  by 
the  acknowledgment  or  acquiescence  of  all  the  European  powers.  'I'he  United 
States  alone  could  have  disputed  this  title,  and  that  only  to  the  extent  of  the  region 
watered  by  the  Columbia.  The  Spanish  iind  American  titles,  now  uniied  by  the 
Florida  treaty,  cannot  be  justly  rfsisted  by  Great  Britain.  Considered  together, 
they  consliliiti'  a  perfect  title  to  the  territory  in  dispute,  ever  since  the  llth  .May, 
1792,  when  Capt.  (iray  passed  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  which  he 
had  observed  in  August,  1788. 

The  undersigned  will  now  proceed  to  show  that  this  title  of  the  United  Slate?, 
at  least  to  the  possession  of  the  territory  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  has 
been  acknowledged  by  the  most  solemn  and  unequivocal  acts  of  the  British  Go- 
vernment. 

After  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  from  France,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  fitted  out  an  expedition  under  Messrs.  Lewis  and  Clarke;  who,  in  180.5, 
first  explored  the  ('olumbia,  Iroiu  its  source  to  its  mouth,  preparatory  to  the  oc- 
cupation of  the  territory  by  the  Uniied  States. 

In  1811,  the  settlement  of  Astoria  was  made  by  the  Americans  near  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  and  several  other  posts  wore  established  in  the  interior  along  its 
bunks.  The  war  of  1812  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  thus  found 
the  latter  in  peaceful  possession  of  that  region.  Astoria  was  captured  by  Great 
Britain  during  tliis  war.  The  treaty  of  peace  concluded  at  Ghent  in  December, 
1814,  provided  that  "all  territory,  places,  and  possessions  whatsoever,  taken  by 
either  party  from  the  oUier,  during  the  war,  &.c.  "shall  be  restored  without  de- 
lay." In  obedience  to  the  provisions  of  this  treaty.  Great  Britain  restored  As- 
toria to  the  United  States;  and  thus  admitted  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  not  only 
that  it  had  been  an  American  territory  or  possession  at  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  but  that  it  had  been  captured  by  British  arms  during  its  continuance.  It  is 
now  too  late  to  gainsay  or  explain  away  these  facts.  Both  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
and  the  acts  of  the  British  Government  under  it,  disprove  the  allegations  ot  the 
British  plenipotentiary,  that  Astoria  passed  "into  British  hands  by  the  voluntary 
act  of  the  per.ions  in  charge  of  it,"  and  "that  it  was  restored  to  the  United  States 
in  1818  with  certain  well-authenticated  reservations." 

In  reply  to  the  first  of  these  allegations,  it  is  true  that  the  agents  of  the  (Ame- 
rican) Pacific  Fur  Company,  before  the  capture  of  Astoria  on  the  16th  October, 
1813,  had  transferred  all  that  they  could  transfer — the  private  property  of  the 
company — to  the  (British)  Northwest  Company;  but  it  will  scarcely  be  contended 
that  such  an  arrangement  could  impair  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  United  Slates 
to  the  territoiy.  Accordingly,  the  American  flag  was  still  kept  flying  over  the 
fort  until  the  1st  December,  1813,  when  it  wps  captured  by  his  Majesty's  sloop 
of  war  Raccoon,  and  the  British  flag  was  then  substituted. 

That  it  was  not  restored  to  the  United  States  "with  certain  well-authenticated 
reservations,"  fully  appears  from  the  act  of  restoration  itself,  bearing  dale  6th  Oc- 
tober, 181S.  This  is  as  absolute  and  unconditional  as  the  English  language  can 
make  it.     That  this  was  according  to  the  intention  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  clearlj 


15 


found 
G  reat 
:ember, 
en  by 
out  de- 
red  As- 
lot  only 
of  the 
It  is 
Ghent, 
ol  the 
unlary 
States 

(Ame- 
Dclober, 

of  the 
ntended 

Stales 
iver  the 

sloop 

nticated 

6ti\  Oc- 

lage  can 

,  clearly 


appears  from  his  previous  admission  to  Mr.  Rush  of  the  right  of  the  Americans 
to  be  reinstated,  and  to  be  the  party  in  possession  while  treating  on  the  title.  If 
British  ministers  iil'lerwards,  in  despatches  to  their  own  accents,  the  contents  of 
which  were  not  communicated  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  thought 
proper  to  protest  ngainst  our  title,  these  were,  in  effect,  but  mere  mental  reserva- 
tions, which  could  not  affect  the  validity  of  their  own  solemn  and  unconditional 
act  of  rcHtoration. 

But  the  British  plenipotentiary,  notwithstanding  the  American  discovery  of  the 
Columbia  by  Captain  Gray,  and  the  exploration  by  Lewis  and  Clarli  of  several  of 
its  branches,  from  their  sources  in  the  llocky  Mountains,  as  well  as  its  main  chan- 
nel to  the  ocean,  contends  tliat  because  Tlioinpson,  a  British  .sulijecl  in  the  em- 
ploynienl  v(  the  Northwest  Company,  was  llie  first  who  navii^ated  the  northern 
branch  of  that  river,  the  Bi'itisli  ^ovcrnnient  thereby  acquired  certain  rights  against 
the  United  Stales,  theexteui  of  whicli  Ik"  does  not  undertake  to  sptcily.  In  other 
words,  that  after  one  nation  had  discovered  and  explored  a  great  river,  and  several 
tributaries,  and  made  seitleuu'nts  on  its  baiiks,  another  nation,  if  it  could  find  a 
single  branch  of  its  head  waters  wiiic.li  had  not  been  actually  explored,  might 
appropriate  to  itself  this  branch,  lo;rether  with  the  adjacent  territory.  If  lliis  conld 
have  been  done,  it  would  have  produced  perpetual  strife  and  collision  among  the 
nations  after  Ihc  discovery  of  America.  It  would  have  violated  the  wise  principle 
consi'crated  by  llie  [jraetice  of  nations,  which  gives  the  valley  drained  by  a  river 
and  its  branches  to  the  nation  which  had  first  discovered  and  appropriated  its 
mouth. 

But,  for  another  reason,  this  alleged  discovery  of  Thompson  has  no  merits  what- 
ever. His  journey  was  undertaken  on  behalf  of  the  Norihwest  Company  for  the 
mere  purpose  of  anticipating  the  United  States  in  ihe  occupation  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Cclumbiu--a  territory  to  which  no  nation,  unless  it  may  have  been  Spain,  could 
with  any  show  of  justice  dispute  their  right.  They  had  acquired  it  by  discovery 
and  by  exploration,  and  were  now  in  the  act  of  taking  possession.  It  was  in  an  en- 
terprise undertaken  for  such  a  purpose,  that  Thompson,  in  hastening  from  Ca- 
nada to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  descended  the  north,  arbitrarily  assumed  by 
Great  Britain  to  be  the  main  br.Juch  of  this  river.  The  period  was  far  loo  late  to 
impair  the  title  of  either  Spain  or  the  United  Slates  by  any  such  proceeding. 

JVlr.  Thompson,  on  his  return,  was  accompanied  by  a  party  from  Astoria,  under 
Mr.  David  Stuart,  wlio  established  a  post  at  the  confluence  of  the  Okinagan  with 
the  north  branch  of  the  Columbia,  about  six  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  latter. 

In  the  i\e.A  year  (1812)  a  second  trading  post  was  established  by  a  party  from 
Astoria,  on  the  Spokan,  about  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  ocean. 

It  thus  appears  that,  previous  to  the  capture  of  Astoria  by  the  British,  the  Ame- 
ricans had  extended  their  possessions  up  the  Columbia  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 
The  more  intrusion  of  the  Northwest  Comp  my  into  this  territory,  and  the  estab- 
lishment ol  two  or  three  trading  posts,  in  1811  and  1812,  on  the  head  waters  of 
the  river,  can  surely  not  interfere  with  or  impair  the  Spanish  American  title. 
What  this  company  may  have  done  in  the  intermediate  period  until  the  20th  Oc- 
tober, 1818 — the  date  of  the  first  treaty  of  joint  or.cupalion — is  unknown  to  the 
undersigned,  from  the  impenetrable  mystery  in  which  they  have  veiled  their  pro- 
ceedings. After  the  date  of  this  treaty,  neither  Great  Brilam  nor  the  United  Slates 
could  have  performed  any  act  afTecting  their  claims  to  the  disputed  territory. 

To  sum  up  the  whole,  then.  Great  Britain  cannot  rest  her  claims  to  the  north- 
west coast  of  America  upon  discovery.  As  little  will  her  single  claim  by  settle- 
ment at  Nootka  Sound  avail  her.  Even  Belsham,  her  own  historian,  forty  years 
ago,  declared  it  to  be  certain,  from  the  most  authentic  iuformation,  "that  the  Spa- 
nish flag  flying  at  ISootka  w  as  never  struck,  and  ihat  the  territory  had  beeu  vir- 
tually relinquished  by  Great  Britain." 


16 


The  agents  of  the  Northwest  Company,  penetrating  the  continent  from  Canada, 
in  1806,  estublisiied  their  first  trading  post  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  at  Frji- 
zer's  lake,  in  the  d4lh  degree  of  latitude;  and  this,  with  the  trading  posts  estab- 
lished by  Thompson — to  which  the  undersigned  h.is  just  adverted — and  possibly 
some  others  nfierwunLs,  previous  to  October,  1818,  coiustitute  the  claim  of  Great 
Britain  by  actual  settlemfut. 

Ujjon  ilie  whole:  From  the  most  careful  and  ample  examination  which  the  un- 
dersigned has  been  able  to  bestow  upon  tlie  subject,  he  is  satisfied  that  the  Spanish 
American  title  now  held  by  the  Uniifd  Slates,  embracing  the  wiiule  territory  be- 
tween llie  paialhOs  of  42  dcgn^es  and  54  degiei^s  40  minutes,  is  the  best  title  in 
existence  to  this  entire  region;  and  that  the  claim  ol  Great  Briiain  to  any  portion 
of  it  has  no  .sudicient  fouiidaliou.  Even  Brili^h  geographers  have  not  doubted 
our  title  to.  the  territory  in  dit^pnie.  There  is  u  large  and  splendid  glolie  now  in 
the  Department  cf  State,  recently  red  ived  from  London,  and  published  by  Mnlby 
and  Company,  'Snannfacturers  and  piiUlisheis  to  (he  Society  lor  the  Diffusion  of 
Useful  knowledge,"  which  assigns  ibis  territory  to  the  United  States." 

Notwithsti'.nding  such  was  and  still  is  the  opinion  of  the  President,  vet,  in  the 
spirit  of  coinproiiiibc  and  concession,  ami  in  defrcnco  to  the  action  of  his  prede- 
cessors, the  undersigned,  in  obedience  to  his  iastructioiit,  propo.-cd  to  the  British 
plenipotentiary  to  seiile  the  controversy  by  dividing  the  territory  in  dispute  by 
the  49th  parallel  of  latitude,  otlcring  at  the  satne  time  to  mtdcc  free  to  Great  Bri- 
tain any  potior  ports  on  Vancunvcr's  islmd,  south  of  (his  latitude,  which  the 
British  lrov('i■nnl^'llt  might  ilesir.^.  The  JJritisii  plenipoifntJnry  has  correctly  suggested 
that  tlie  frep.  navigation  of  tiip  Colujiihia  river  wiis  not  cinbraci  d  in  this  proposal  to 
Gre;U  Britain;  but.  on  the  otlipr  hiin.l,  the  use  of  free  ports  on  tlie  soulhern  extremity  of 
this  inland  had  not  befn  included  in  loriner  ofi'ers. 

Such  a  propositioii  as  that  v.'hicli  has  lit-on  made,  never  would  have  been  authorized 
by  thePrpsi.lt'iil,  had  this  bfca  a  new  (piesiioii. 

Upon  his  accession  tooifice.  he  I'oiiud  the  present  ncg'tiation  pendinn;.  It  hod  been 
institute  I  ia  the  spirit  nnd  upon  the  p;in'.-ipl»  of  lonipromise.  Its  ohjpct.as  avowed  by 
the  negotiators,  was  not  to  ilernanii  ttin  whole  territory  in  dispute  lor  either  coumry;  but 
in  the  lansn;>gt>  of  the  ilrst  protocol,  "to  treat  of  the  rpspectivH  claims  of  the  two  coun- 
tries to  the  Oregon  t irritory  wi.h  tlu'  view  to  estalilish  a  perrnaneat  boundary  between 
thcin  westward  of  the  Rocky  Moui'.iairis  to  the  Pacific  ocean." 

Phiced  in  tliis  position,  anil  considering  that  Presidents  Monroe  and  Adams  had  on 
former  occasions  olTered  to  divide  tle^  tprriiory  in  dis,)Ute  by  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of 
latitude,  he  lelt  it  to  bo  his  duly  not  a'lrnptly  to  anest  the  negotiation;  l)ut  so  I'ar  to  yield 
his  own  opinion  as  oace  more  to  ma!;e  a  similar  offer. 

Not  only  respect  for  the  conduct  of  his  predeces.sors,  hut  a  sincere  and  anxious  desire 
to  promote  peace  and  linrniony  hetwren  the  two  countries,  influenced  him  to  pnrsue 
this  course.  The  Oregon  q  lestion  prcsints  the  only  intcrveiung  clond  which  intercepts 
the  prospect  of  a  lon<^  careerof  inuiiial  friendship  and  bcneliciai  commerce  between  the 
two  nations,  ami  tliis  cloud  he  desin  d  lo  remove 

These  are  tiie  reasons  which  a<;luated  the  Pres,  nt  to  offer  a  proposition  so  liberal  to 
Great  Britain. 

And  how  has  this  proposition  been  received  by  the  British  plenioolenliary?  It  has 
been  rejected  wiihout  even  n  reference  to  his  own  govern 'nent.  Nay,  more;  the  Bri- 
tish pleiiipotenoary,  to  use  his  own  language,  "trnsis  tint  the  American  plenipotentiary 
will  be  prepared  to  od'.T  scnae  further  proposal  lor  the  settlement  ol  the  Ofegon  fjuestion 
more  amnislenl  iBUhJiiirnesmiiil  eiiuUij,  and  with  the  reasoriabk  erficctations  of  the  Brilish 
gooeriimi^nlf" 

Under  these  circf  nslanccs,  the  undersigned  is  instructed  by  the  President  to  say  that 
he  owes  it  lo  !iis  own  country,  and  ajust  anpreciation  of  her  title  to  the  Oregon  terrilury, 
to  wiihdra\v  tlie  propocilion  lo  the  liriiiid'  government  which  had  been  made  under  his 
direction;  and  it  is  hereby  accordingly  vv'itiidrav/n. 

In  taking  this  necessary  step,  the  Prc:udent  still  cheri'-her!  th»  hope  th.al  this  long  pend- 
ing controversy  vnay  yet  be  finaUy  adjusted  in  stfii  a  manner  as  not  to  disturb  the  peace 
or  interrupt  the  harmony  now  so  h.ippdy  subsisting  between  the  two  uatious. 

The  undersigutd  avails  himself,  kc. 

•  JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

The  Right  Hon.  R.  PixENHAM,  fcc. 


Canada, 
),  al  Fru- 
its estab- 
possilily 
of  G leat 

I  the  un- 
>  Spanish 
itory  be- 
lt title  in 
f  portion 

doubted 
3  now  in 
ly  Mnlby 
tusioii  of 

3t,  in  the 
is  prcde- 
e  British 
spule  by 
reat  Bri- 
fliich  the 
suggested 
opos^al  to 
iremily  of 

ulhorized 

had  been 
/owed  by 
tinry;  but 
wo  coun- 
between 

IS  had  on 
larallel  of 

II  to  yield 

las  desire 
to  pursue 
inii>r(?opl8 
ween  the 

liberal  to 

?  It  has 
;  the  Bri- 
tit'ntiary 
question 
te  Bnlish 

I  say  that 
tcrrilury, 
under  his 

mgppnd- 
tlu-  peace 


AN. 


